As a leader and supervisor at the university, you play a vital role in the success of your employees. These resources are designed to help you. We are available to work with you through all stages of the employment lifecycle. For more information on how we can partner with you to be an effective leader, please contact us at (308)-865-8184 or humanresource@unk.edu.
UNK utilizes SuccessFactors as the platform for all job requisitions and the hiring process. SuccessFactors can be found in Firefly.
Guides and resources regarding the search process can be found in Sapphire.
If you have any questions regarding the hiring process. Please contact Meredith DeHaven at dehavenmm@unk.edu or at (308)-865-8516.
All offers are contingent upon a successful background check and if needed, documentation to verify eligibility to work in the United States. Any immigration question can be directed to human resources.
Before the hiring process can be initiated for a position, the Request to Fill form must be filled out and approved by the Chancellor Leadership Team. Please fill out the Request to Fill Position Form and send the completed form to Scott Benson, Vice Chancellor of Business and Finance.
Once the Request to Fill Form has been approved, search chairs can create a job requisition in SuccessFactors. Tutorials on creating a job requisition can be found in the SuccessFactors Folder in Sapphire.
When creating a job requisition: Please ensure you have the following
Once the job requisition has been approved, Human Resources will advertise the position. Human Resources will only place ads in the Kearney Area Chamber of Commerce, NECC Jobs, HigherEdJobs, and jobs.nebraska.edu. While other Job boards (LinkedIn, Indeed, etc.) may scrape these job postings, Human Resources does not monitor them. All other job boards/publications/advertisements are the departments' responsibility if they would like.
Please note that interviews cannot be conducted until the application review date has passed. An approval to interview needs to be received by the Office of Compliance for all publicly searched positions.
When screening candidates to create a shortlist for the position. The search committee needs to fill out a Search Criteria Form with a rationale on why each candidate did/did not receive an interview.
The Search Criteria Form can be found in SuccessFactors under the Interviewer Assessment Information section under the Job Requisition Details tab.
Please send the completed Search Criteria Form to the Office of Compliance at oec@unk.edu
For more information on how to move candidates to a shortlist, please visit: Sapphire
Once interviews are completed and you have narrowed your search to a few candidates. You can proceed with reference checks. To start this process, you will need to move the candidate(s) status to Reference Check in SuccessFactors. This triggers an email to the candidate. If personal and professional references were not provided during the initial application, the candidate will be notified to input 3 references. Candidates can choose to update their references as well.
The committee may not contact anyone as a reference without the candidate's written approval (per legal counsel). The committee must contact 3 references, at least one employer, and at least one personal or professional reference. Records of these contacts should be maintained in the search file.
Please note: You cannot initiate offer approval until references have been provided.
After you are ready to offer a position to an applicant, you can route the applicant to initiate offer approval in SuccessFactors. From there, you will be able to edit offer details before sending it for approval. The offer will need to be approved by:
Once the offer has been approved by all necessary parties, the Search Chair, Human Resources, and the Facilitator will receive an email notifying them that all approvals have been completed and that a verbal offer can be extended.
When a verbal offer has been accepted, A background check needs to be completed and approved by Human Resources. You will need to reroute the candidate to pre-employment check status, and then you will need to initiate a background check. The employee will receive communication to fill out the background check once this has been initiated.
All offers are contingent upon a successful background check and if needed, documentation to verify eligibility to work in the United States. Any immigration question can be directed to human resources.
Once the background check is complete, an offer letter can be sent to the candidate. The Hiring Chair and Human Resources will receive an email confirming whether the candidate accepted or declined the offer.
The University of Nebraska Kearney recognizes that people are our most important resource for sustaining excellent teaching, research, and service. Our goal is for all employees to maximize contributions to their departments, while having opportunities to develop their talents, to acquire and use new skills, and thus to achieve greater career effectiveness and satisfaction.
Our Loper Employee Professional Development Program invites you to explore opportunities that strengthen your leadership skills, sharpen your managerial abilities, and expand your overall effectiveness. We offer interactive workshops, practical resources, and ongoing support designed to help you grow as a leader—and to help your team thrive.
Please refer to the Loper Employee Professional Development Page for a list of in-person and online recommended and required courses for Managers and Supervisors.
As a department/unit leader, you play a vital role in guiding new employees through their journey at the university. It may be tempting to squeeze everything into a new employee’s first few days of work, but this can leave employees feeling overwhelmed.
The onboarding process begins from the time of initial hire through at least the first six months. Take time to break it down into bite-size chunks, and your new hires will be more likely to retain all the new information and perform their jobs successfully.
Employee onboarding is monitored by SuccessFactors. You can track the employees' onboarding process in the recruiting module. SuccessFactors is accessible via Firefly. For more information about navigating SuccessFactors, please visit the resources in Sapphire or contact Human Resources.
Keep in mind that the information listed should be utilized as a reference and not a comprehensive list. If you need any additional information or support, please contact the Human Resource Office.
Communicate first-day details with new hires
Before your new hires start, it’s a good idea to send them an email to warmly welcome them to your team and share important details about their upcoming first day. Your email may include some or all of the following:
Set up University hardware and software access. This includes:
Create a training checklist
All new employees are required to complete the New Employee Orientation within the first 31 days of employment, which can be found in Bridge. Employees also need to take:
Fill out Required Forms
All new employees are required to fill out the required forms listed below. Please contact the Human Resource Office if you have any questions.
Other Things to Consider
Please note that these onboarding materials are for all UNK employees. Please add position-specific onboarding as needed.
During the first month, you should provide the employee with a comprehensive introduction to the department/unit and university, including values, mission, and culture. Share essential information regarding policies, procedures, and compliance requirements, so new hires clearly understand the work environment.
It’s also common to introduce new employees to key personnel, tour the facilities, and provide insights into the team and individual roles. The orientation phase aims to acclimate individuals to the organizational structure, instill a sense of belonging, and foster connections with colleagues. By offering a structured and informative initiation, you directly contribute to employee morale and confidence.
Consistently Communicate
Try to meet with your new employee each day for a week or two, to help them acclimate and cover different topics. Make sure you’re starting with the basics, and not deep diving right into a project or plan that might make little sense to them. You can shift your daily 1:1s to weekly 1:1 (or whatever your normal cadence) once you feel they have gotten the hang of things.
Questions you may consider asking:
Establish Expectations and Performance Goals
Managers and Supervisors should establish expectations with their employees within the first week of employment. To avoid confusion and misunderstanding in the future.
In addition, during the first month, you create a to-do list for your employees that sets expectations as well as provides some reassurance that they are on track. You include any projects that you feel they can immediately begin contributing to. By the end of the first month, aim to establish key objectives.
Expectations
Performance
Use this plan as a guide when staff are ending their employment with the university. If the employee is leaving voluntarily, by resignation, or retirement, the following notice should be given.
If the employee has not yet, please direct them to fill out the Employee Checkout Form.
Please use the Separating Employee Checklist to guide the employee throughout the separation process. But here are a few key details.
Employee access to University Services will end on the last day of employment (separation date or appointment end date)
Services that end on the last day of employment
